The poll of more than 11,000 air travelers found that social media postings have become the “feedback tool of choice” for passengers. Some 21 percent of business travelers in the survey said they had posted a comment about their airline trip on social media, and so did 8 percent of leisure flyers. And almost three-quarters of all those comments were positive.

“When an airline responds to any social media post – whether it’s positive or negative – there is a noteworthy 121-point lift in passenger satisfaction” regarding that airline, J.D. Power said. The company rates airlines in its survey results on a 1,000-point scale.

It said that the social platform most commonly used by passengers is Facebook (81 percent), followed by Twitter (41 percent). Apparently the takeaway from these numbers is that customers really like to know that their airline listened to them and cared enough to reply. And they resent it when they’re ignored.

Besides having their posts ignored, there are a couple of other things that really bug travelers, the survey found. One is insufficient overhead bin space, cited by 14 percent of respondents who said they had ”an issue” with this. And when they do, their overall satisfaction level with the airline drops by 82 points.

“The problem is inversely related to age, as travelers in younger generations are more likely to experience a problem with overhead storage than are older travelers,” J.D. Power noted (possibly because older travelers have learned through bitter experience what will fit and what won’t).

The other thing is getting bumped from a flight. The levels of involuntary denied boardings have reached “historic lows,” J.D. Power observed, but when they do happen, “they have the greatest negative influence on overall satisfaction.”

Speaking of overall satisfaction, you’d think all the publicity these days about shrinking seat pitch, passenger misbehavior, fights with flight attendants, overcrowded planes and gate areas, etc. would mean a significant drop in passengers’ happiness with the air travel experience.

But J.D. Power found just the opposite: Overall satisfaction with the airlines in the latest survey jumped by 30 points over the previous year, to 756 points, “continuing a trend of steady performance increases that began in 2013.”

The company divides airlines into “traditional” and “low-cost,” although those divisions aren’t what they used to be. The highest-rated “traditional” airline was Alaska (for the tenth year in a row) with a score of 765, followed by Delta at 758. Ranking highest among “low-cost” carriers was Southwest at 807, closely followed by JetBlue at 803.

PBS and the BBC have teamed up to produce an in-depth look at the inner workings of passenger air travel.

The new three-part documentary series “City in the Sky” will debut on Wednesday, February 8; check your local listings for broadcast times.

“Anyone who flies, from annual vacationers to daily business travelers, will be amazed what it really takes to get them from place to place safely and efficiently,” said PBS chief programming executive Beth Hoppe. “This is an extraordinary series that jet-sets around the world to show the inner-workings of a fascinating global industry many of us take for granted.”

The first episode, called “Departure,” focuses on airports and getting passengers off the ground; the second, “Airborne,” examines safety issues and what goes on while the plane is in the air; the third, “Arrival,” looks at the “complex global networks” and “astonishing technology” that bring flights safely to the ground, PBS said.

Among the locations featured in the documentary series are Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson Airport, one of the world’s busiest; Seattle’s Boeing plant; the airport at Bangor, Maine, where transatlantic airliners in trouble find a safe haven; and MedAire, Inc. in Phoenix, where doctors are on call around the clock the help cabin crews deal with in-fight medical emergencies.

Drinking and traveling go together like gin and tonic (Photo: Chris McGinnis)

No matter how abstemious Americans may be at home, the prospect of going on a trip seems to loosen their inhibitions a bit – or a lot – when it comes to drinking. That’s according to a new survey from Cheapflights.com that asked 1,000 respondents about their drinking practices at airports and on the plane.

As you might expect, the survey found that a traveler’s inclination to imbibe depends in part on where she’s from. According to the poll, 53 percent of those from western states and 51 percent from the east coast said they drink when they travel. By contrast, only 43 percent of Midwesterners said the same. TAKE OUR POLL BELOW!

How do travelers spend time at the airport when they’re faced with a long layover? Just over one-third of the respondents said that situation will send them to the airport bar.

The proportion of drinkers bumps up to 37 percent on their flights – although the survey found that one-fifth of its respondents only do so when the drinks are free. (Speaking of spending money on drinks, seven percent of the respondents admitted that when they go on vacation, they spend more on alcohol than on food.)

Drinking on trips varies by area of residence. (Image: Cheapflights.com)

And what do Americans drink when they travel? Forty-eight percent of men said they prefer beer, while women were divided between cocktails (28 percent) and wine (26 percent).

The survey didn’t ask subjects exactly how much they pour back on their trips, but we’ve seen plenty of evidence from the evening news that overindulgence can be a big contributor to air rage, in-cabin misbehavior and even diverted flights. One in five of the men surveyed said that they had been intoxicated at the airport or on a plane, while 11 percent of women admitted the same.

And it could be a hair of the dog situation 🙂 , but six percent of the respondents conceded that they have had their first drink before 8 a.m. during a trip (11 percent of men and 2 percent of women). I’m always surprised to see folks kicking back the vodkas on those early flights… but who am I to judge?

POLL:

What about you? Do you tend to drink more, less or about the same amount, or not at all? Please take our poll!

After voters in the U.K. voted last month to leave the European Union, there was wide speculation that airline travel might be one of the first sectors to suffer from the results of that blockbuster referendum. And now those shock waves are starting to show.

In announcing its quarterly earningsthis week, Delta said it has decided to reduce capacity between the U.S. and the U.K. by six percentage points from its previously planned winter schedule. It didn’t specify which routes might take the brunt of the cutbacks or if they will be evenly spread, but it blamed the decision on “the additional foreign currency pressure from the steep drop in the British pound and the economic uncertainty from Brexit.” Meaning: It’s getting a lot more expensive for Brits to visit the U.S. and other countries, and fewer are expected to travel in coming months.

Delta said that will be a major factor in the airline reducing its overall system capacity by one point in the December quarter. There has been no word yet from other airlines in the U.S.-U.K. market about any changes in their schedules, but it is reasonable to expect similar capacity caution from Delta partner Virgin Atlantic, the American-British Airways joint venture, and United.

London’s prestigious Savoy Hotel a much better deal for Americans these days (Image: The Savoy)

The U.K. newspaper The Independent said the plunge in the value of the pound relative to the dollar is discouraging U.K. travel to North America, and lingering fears among U.S. citizens of terrorist attacks are having a dampening effect on demand for eastbound travel, in spite of the greater buying power of the dollar in Britain.

In any case, those factors could already be contributing to lower fares for business travelers. A check on Google Flights this week found August fares that are about half off of “normal” – i.e., nonstop business class to London is going for as low as $3,500 roundtrip from the west coast and just $2,600 from New York.

In its own analysis of the Brexit impact, the International Air Travel Association predicted that the U.K. air passenger market is likely to be 3 to 5 percent lower by 2020 than it would have been if the vote had gone the other way.

How has Brexit affected your travel plans? Or has it affected them at all yet? Please leave your comments below.

Our recent post “Six highly annoying habits of infrequent flyers” drew quite a response from our readers – especially on the question of whether or not a passenger should feel free to recline his or her seat, and if so, under what circumstances.

It’s a question that never goes away – and sometimes comes back strong, like in 2014 when a couple of nasty incidents involving passengers’ use of the Knee Defender resulted in arguments that caused flights to be diverted. (The 12-year-old Knee Defender is a plastic item some travelers buy to install over their tray table arms; it prevents the seat ahead of them from reclining. Fortune magazine even devoted an article to whether or not a traveler might have a right to sue if the Knee Defender was deployed against them.)

Advocates of reclining their seat argue that if they didn’t have a right to recline, the airlines wouldn’t install reclining seats. Opponents suggest that maybe they shouldn’t. (And some low-fare carriers – Allegiant and Spirit – don’t. Here’s a look at how that worked out for them.)

Anyway, following is a summary of reader comments about the pros and cons of seat reclining. What about YOU? Please leave your comments below…

“I never ever recline. I’m 6’3″ and when someone reclines it seriously hurts me. I know that the chairs recline, but they shouldn’t. My knees (except in first class) are already in the back of the seatback in front of me. Which is why I always try to book an aisle so that I can at least extend one leg. I’m fine when people in first class recline as it usually doesn’t cause me any issues, but unless you’re riding in first class PLEASE I’m begging you for the sake of all of us that are tall (or perhaps just have long legs), don’t recline! We can’t do anything about our height.” – Joshua Titus

“I have a bad lower back, and airline seats seem designed to put the most stress on it–so yes, I still recline (and still need ibuprofen). However, I go back slowly and gently, since I know someone is back there. Most irritating to me are those folks who use something to block the recline function.” – Kevin Ford

“I still recline. If we weren’t supposed to recline, the seats wouldn’t have the ability to do so.” — SkippingDog

“Each to their own (feel the ‘zen’), but isn’t this like lighting up onboard an older aircraft because there are still ash trays in the arms?” — Howard

“Not at all, since the law and the rules are that nobody smokes on airplanes anymore. When there’s a law or a rule that prohibits reclining my seat, I’ll certainly comply with it.” – SkippingDog

“I recline but I go back very slowly.” – Jeff

“If the seat has recline, then I’m going to recline. If you don’t like it, pay for business class. – Anthony Wong

“On some aircraft, the seat has an ash tray too! This is not about what’s possible or legal, it’s about what’s polite and protocol. PS — I do recline too, but only on flights where one might reasonably expect most people to be sleeping/resting.” – Howard

Some airlines don’t offer reclining seats at all- like these on Hawaiian’s 717’s used for short inter island flights (Photo: Chris McGinnis)

“Reclining makes it really challenging for the person behind you to work, eat, and be comfortable. It’s an antiquated concept on modern jets (at least in coach).” – David Mandelbaum

“Under two hours, rarely recline. Longer than that, I recline on take-off when I know the tray tables are up.” – RD

“The fact that planes are too full is a problem for the airline, but doesn’t change the fact that the seats are made to recline. Unless I’m flying for work, I usually fly first class these days, and I recline there too.” – SkippingDog

“I don’t recline, even in first class. You are cutting into the space of the person behind you. I am always furious when the person in front of me reclines.” — Hokey

Why don’t you chime in with your two cents on this contentious issue? Fire away in the comments below.

Visitors to Havana will see lots of old U.S.-made cars kept in prime condition. (Image: y.becart/Flickr)

JetBlue’s announcement this week that it will start flying from New York JFK to Havana once a week starting July 3 is just one of many flight options that are opening up to Americans now that the Obama Administration has eased restrictions on travel to Cuba.

Like the other services, JetBlue’s JFK flight will technically be a public charter flight, operated by Cuba Travel Services Inc.

JetBlue has also signed up to fly a weekly charter flight from Tampa to Havana beginning June 5, with ABC Charters as the operator. Baltimore/Washington International just announced twice-weekly flights to Havana starting in September, operated by Island Travel & Tours, a company that already offers Miami-Havana flights six times a week and will start twice-weekly Orlando-Havana flights July 6.

And there are lots more. Cuba Trips has put together a comprehensive chart of most of the charter services available, not only to Havana but other Cuban destinations as well.

But before you pack your bags, be aware that technically, the new U.S. rulesstill do not permit travel to Cuba for tourism or for seeking out business deals. The rules define 12 categories of travel that it allows, and the traveler will have to check a box on a mandatory form in order to book a trip.

Still, a couple of the categories are very loosely defined. The New York Times offers some suggestions for ways that business travelers can legitimately make the trip to Cuba.

A less expensive option for getting to Cuba is on the horizon as well. The government last week gave approval to several ferry companies to begin service from the U.S. to Cuba. Their plans include departures from Key West, Ft. Lauderdale, Miami and other Florida ports.

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Editor Chris McGinnis

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